


Love will keep us together

by Pickl3lily



Series: A Flash of Cold and A Waving Killer [2]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Forgive Me, Forgiveness, Gen, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Lisa/Leonard/Caitlin sibling feels, Not Beta Read, Team ColdFlash, Team Dynamics, bromances, coldflash if you squint, trash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-10 00:10:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7822657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pickl3lily/pseuds/Pickl3lily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Forgiveness is hard. Caitlin likes to think she's been pretty lenient but forgiving a man who almost killed you can be difficult, especially when he is trying to buy the forgiveness with an admittedly gorgeous ring. No doubt, stolen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love will keep us together

“For you.” A ruby-encrusted wedding band sat on the velvet pillow of an open ring box was slammed harshly against the desk in front of Caitlin, and she jumped violently at the motion and roughly spoken words. Her lips parted in a perfect ‘O’ as she realised what it was and she almost smiled before registering who had given it to her; she forced her features into a scowl as she whipped her head round to meet his gaze. “Why would I want anything you gave me? Hmm?” She hissed her words, careful not to attract the attention of Barry, Snart and Cisco who were currently debating the pros and cons of British television shows and their American remakes.

It had been difficult to adjust to the Snart siblings and their pyromaniac counter-part becoming a permanent fixture around STAR labs, but she had mostly managed; Lisa hadn’t really needed to apologise to her, but did so anyway – in her own unique, innuendo-laced way that had left Caitlin questioning her own sexuality. Snart had re-organised the rest of the labs to match her own system in the med-bay and bought her coffee for a month – obviously not good with the verbal apologies, but the actions were appreciated. It was Rory that was the big problem. He hadn’t apologised and when she had screamed at him that he should at least act sorry, he had strapped her to a damn bomb! He had just looked taken aback, giving her an almost hurt expression before stalking off. That had been three days ago and the man had been avoiding her since. Until now apparently. Now, it seemed, he had decided to present her with a no doubt stolen ring, as if that would help things?

She maintained her scowl, keeping it fixed on him until he started to fidget nervously under her gaze before fixing her with his own scowl, shrugging angrily and storming off. Caitlin wasn’t entirely sure who had won that round, but she decided it should be her. For reasons.

Regardless, she finds herself not mentioning the ring to the others, turning it over in her hands as if it would provide some clue of where Rory had stolen it from, and quickly slipping it onto her finger when Cisco and Barry came over to pull her into their debate with the Snart siblings, both of whom gave identical smirks at seeing the ring on her finger. They must have been a part of the same heist. Damn. She forces herself to act natural, even as her face burns with the heat of the blush blossoming over her cheeks and her heart is hammering so hard in her chest, she’s sure it will burst.

 

Two days later and she still hasn’t had any luck discovering rings stolen in heists lately. She thought it would be easier to track down the owner, with the words ‘ _Love will keep us_ together’ engraved inside; (obviously a Captain and Tennille fan). Yet, it’s almost as if the ring doesn’t exist, and she realised that she has a few problems. First is that she’s lousy at research but now she’s committed to keeping it from Cisco, so she can’t ask for his help with the matter or she’ll risk offending him at keeping it for this long – or he’ll let something slip and Joe might find out too and start thinking she’s complicit to the crime. Another problem is that the ring doesn’t seem to want to come off of her finger and she is loathed to use the butter or oil method because the last time she tried that, she lost the ring and if this one is finally traced back to her, she doesn’t want to accidentally withhold evidence of a crime because she lost it. Then of course, there’s also the fact that Lisa Snart seems to think they’ve become best friends, having shown up at Caitlin’s apartment in pyjamas on that first night and she hasn’t left; admittedly, when Lisa decided to drop her walls and decide to befriend Caitlin, she had warped into this adorable nerd and Caitlin was actually finding herself being wooed. Wooed into friendship – which is significantly less weird than Leonard Snart breaking in at 5 in the morning and waking the sleeping women with the smell of blueberry pancakes whilst for whatever reason giving Caitlin a lecture about Mick.

“You see,” Leonard drawled, expertly flipping a pancake in a pan that was way too fancy to be one of hers, “Mick never was good with his feelings – always took the term ‘grand gesture’ a bit too literally and never considered that for some people, fire wasn’t the way to their heart. Syrup?” He held up a tiny jug that Caitlin knew was _definitely_ not hers and, _seriously_ , what the hell kind of thief brings their own crockery when breaking in to someone’s home? She nodded her head, dumbly and he mimicked the motion as he drizzled the syrup over her pancakes and slid the plate across the counter to her. “Where was I? Oh, yes. Mick. Did Lisa ever tell you about when Mick had a crush on her, ooh, maybe twelve years ago?”

Caitlin paused with a strip of pancake halfway to her mouth. She wasn’t surprised the guy had developed feelings for the woman, she’s already caused Caitlin to have multiple moments of doubting her sexuality and she was still wondering if she could be bisexual but… “When would that have even come up? Until two days ago, your sister and I barely even spoke about the _weather_.” Snart ignored her incredulous tone and hummed, turning to the sink and beginning to wash the dirty dishes as he ploughed on. “Right. Well, the feelings were short-lived; Lisa kissed him and he ran away – said it felt wrong. They’re like family now, all of us are – Mick might as well be our brother. Anyway – when he was trying to, for lack of a better term, _court_ her, he set her favourite store on fire. Thought she’d appreciate that he knew her favourite place and cared enough to set a fire so controlled that it only consumed her beloved comic books. Lisa was of course furious, because as much as she hates to let it show, my sister is a major dork. Do you see where I’m going with this?”

Caitlin had found herself taken aback, not expecting the weird-as-hell story to be interrupted for her input; she swallowed the large mouthful of pancake and guzzled the glass of milk slipped to her by the thief and answered uncertainly, “Lisa is a secret nerd and if you harm her comics, she won’t be happy?” Snart snickered quickly, “True and nice to know you’re paying attention, but I mean about Mick. You get what I’ve been trying to say? He thinks that fire and explosions are the most beautiful things ever – they consumed his home and his family and those were the only things he ever loved more.” Caitlin’s eyes were wide, appetite gone as she felt disgust swirl in her stomach. “Mick caused the fire, that’s true – but it was never deliberate. Don’t look like that, he’s a pyro, not a monster. His therapist, don’t tell Mick, but his therapist kept a file about Mick and I read the notes when we first worked together – I needed to know how deep his obsession ran. Turns out, the fire wasn’t deliberate but Mick had constructed a fantasy to deal with it – his coping method was to believe that the fire burns away people to show the truth.”

He paused, resting against the counter and sighing heavily, obviously somewhat disturbed by what he was revealing. “Mick thought that, the fire was alive, it couldn’t be controlled and it let him go so that he could see the truth about his family – the funeral and the condolences, he saw that as the fire showing that his family were good people and that they would be safe at peace. He thinks that the fire only takes good people away to keep them safe. The people burned, like him – they’re not good enough, not pure enough to be taken. That’s why he uses it as a weapon – it’s not part of his pyromania, but part of his coping-method, his delusion that the fire lets him use it to test people. If it kills people, what’s left behind, their legacy will reveal the truth of the person, and if they burn, they’re not pure. Its why you fascinate him. You walked away from the explosion he rigged completely unscathed. I think you destroyed his delusion to some extent.”

Caitlin was shell-shocked, unable to form words as she tried to wrap her mind around what she had just been told, and trying not to shudder at some of the implications, but Snart was already continuing. “That’s how it was anyway. When we were on our little mission, he was taken – brainwashed. He was able to snap out of it, become himself again, but that passion for fire… It’s not _completely_ gone, but it is muted. They thought they were fixing him, re-wiring him to be more predictable, more trust-worthy. He doesn’t have that delusion of fire anymore and now it’s just his preference because it’s what he knows. I think this is the sanest he’s been for a long time and I’m glad he chose you – I think you’ll be good for him.” He finished putting the now clean dishes into a black duffel and met her confused gaze with a surprisingly soft expression “Thank you for giving him a chance. Not many would – or have.” And with that he was gone and by the time Caitlin finally managed to recover enough to ask “what the hell?”, Lisa was already showered, dressed and dragging Caitlin to follow suit so they could make the 9 O’clock showing of some Sci-Fi flick at the local movie theatre.

 

After the watching ‘Flight of the Navigator’, which had been the throw-back movie Lisa had dragged her to see, the pair went to STAR labs following an emergency Team ColdFlash meeting had been called. It wasn’t a surprise to see that the others had already arrived, but it was a surprise to everyone, when Caitlin voluntarily took the seat between Barry and Mick instead of making a bee-line away from the arsonist, as she had done every time until now. Snart’s words from that morning were still resonating inside of her head and she felt oddly guilty that she wasn’t giving him the same chance she was giving the Snart siblings – especially when said siblings seemed so touched that someone other than themselves was finally offering the man an opportunity to prove himself more than just a criminal.

Caitlin looked up from where she had been fiddling with her hands in her lap and noticed that all eyes were on her, and a quick look to the side showed that Mick too was staring, mouth open in surprise and looking somewhat like a gormless potato. She giggled and, unthinkingly, lifted her hand to his chin in order to snap his jaw closed – it wasn’t until he caught her frail hand in one of his own, much larger, hand that she realised she was still wearing the ring. He was stroking his forefinger over it gently, an almost reverent look on his face and when she tugged lightly at her hand in embarrassment, his grip tightened momentarily before meeting her eyes and releasing her. The prolonged eye contact was broken a moment later by Cisco’s forced cough. “O-kay. Well, that was… weird. But totally not why we’re here. Barry.” The speedster snapped his gaze from where he was still staring bewildered at Caitlin and Mick and looked to Cisco. “Huh? Oh right, yeah. So… we have this Meta problem…”

 

 

 

 

 

With another mission done, Caitlin wasn’t surprised to be spending her Saturday night patching up her friends. Lisa was already out-for-the-count, drugged up on some high-level analgesics scored by the thieves when they had first joined the team with Cisco clutching at her hand. Their reasoning had been that, even if Barry didn’t need or couldn’t use them, they had to heal at the normal human rate and pain relief would be greatly appreciated if needed. Good forward thinking. Snart was thrashing wildly in his sleep on a spare bed, Barry sitting behind him, holding him closely and whispering hushed reassurances to the man who had taken several hits from the Meta meant for the Flash. Joe and Iris stood watch, both scowling at how close the pair were on the bed, and how Barry would place soft reassuring kisses to the crown of Snart’s head. Meanwhile, Caitlin was finishing the stitches to Mick’s abdomen, impressed that he was barely even wincing despite having refused any pain killers – apparently he didn’t think it was a good idea, lest he fall off of the wagon, because apparently he was also recovering drug addict in addition to his rampant pyromania. _Awesome_.

“Done.” She proclaimed, placing a dressing over the wound and straightening up from where she had been crouched beside him. “Just try to – “ He cut her off with a gruff “Know what to do, doc. Had plenty o’ stitches before.” She nodded dumbly, embarrassed, because she knew his medical record, knew that he had experience with this sort of thing, and embarrassed because _he_ knows that she knows. “Yeah well – some things bear repeating. Besides, you know plenty about fire and burns, but you still never took very good care of the ones on yourself.” And _nope_. She didn’t mean to say that. Luckily, Mick seemed to be one of the lucky for whom the pain seemed to provide with a sense of euphoria instead of irritability. He chuckled low and pushed her shoulder playfully, startling her as he fixed her with a dopey grin. “Shut up. Ain’t like you can talk – seen those scars you hide. The ones on the outside, but the ones on the inside too – after my farm’s fire, for a bit I hated myself, took it out on myself that I lived. Wouldn’t let myself learn, because I was already dangerous and I didn’t wanna risk being smart with it. Punished myself physically too. Didn’t treat my burn proper, ‘cause I didn’t deserve it – put matches to my skin and let myself burn worse because if it wasn’t for me, the fire never would have taken my family. No matter what I told myself.”

Caitlin wasn’t sure what to say, wasn’t sure if she should say anything considering she was painfully aware that this trust and openness wouldn’t be there if he wasn’t high on endorphins and adrenaline. He was barely even conscious and she felt like she was taking advantage by just being here. She gently placed a hand on his chest, whilst the other came to run its way over his head. “Get some rest.”

 

 

Safe to say that Caitlin was significantly changed from the woman she had been a mere month ago. Back then, she had hated the idea of teaming up with the Snarts and Rory… yet here she was holding a revolver at Joe to defend them. Admittedly, an encounter with an emotion-enhancing meta was probably partially to blame, but still…

“Caitlin, think about what you’re doing. Now, I don’t know what they got on you, but you ain’t gotta do this. Just let me take them in.” He had his hands raised, palms facing her in that placating manner that was seriously patronising. “Really Joe? Like I haven’t seen this move before? Stay where you are! They haven’t done anything wrong! Mostly. They haven’t broken the deal though – they don’t kill anyone and we don’t take them in. That’s for the cops to do!” She was vividly aware of how shrill and hysterical her voice was getting for every new moment of awareness that she was pointing a gun at a cop, but the presence of the Rogues behind her helped to steel her resolve.

“I am a cop Caitlin! It’s my job to take them in!” He had a point and he was her friend, ‘ ** _damn it, how is this happening’_** , but somehow she kept herself from wavering, voice steady and cool as she fixed him with a glare. “Well then, detective. Do it somewhere else, and don’t bother coming back without a warrant – STAR labs is off limits to anyone not a member of Team ColdFlash.”

Joe fixed her with an incredulous gaze, eyes pleading with her to reconsider, before nodding resolutely and turning on his heel. She visibly deflated and startled at the feeling of a hand on her shoulder, turning to find a glassy-eyed Lisa obviously trying not to cry. “Thank you, but why did you do that? Caitlin – “

“I did it because you’re my friends, as much as Barry or Iris or Cisco. And, I would do the same for them.” She laughed then, looking at the gun she held in her hand, hysteria creeping in as she realised what gun it was. “Not that I’m much help! This is Cisco’s lighter! Pull the trigger and a flame comes out of the barrel – real useful.” Her laugh tapered off into hysterical, broken sobs and she barely even registered being pulled into a pair of strong arms and escorted over to the couch, her hair gently stroked until everything just fell away.

When she woke, it was like a terrible hangover, her head pounding and momentary disorientation following her as she forced herself to sit upright. In doing so, she found herself in what she would probably describe as a Rogue puppy-pile; Len was curled into her right side with Mick on her left, his arm thrown across her waist and Lisa sprawled over all of their legs. Disentangling herself wasn’t easy, especially with Lisa in such a precarious position, but somehow she managed it and 20 minutes later saw her standing in the Medbay, contemplating how to go forward now; she wondered idly whether Joe had reported her to the CCPD – if he had, she could be arrested, but surely Barry wouldn’t allow that? The arms snaking around her waist broke her from her thoughts, causing her to jump and spin to face her attacker, only to find Mick there, tightening his arms and drawing her in, surprising her with a gentle and chaste kiss. “Been waiting to do that since I gave ya my Ma’s ring.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Please forgive me for this trash. Really, it was not the story I meant to tell, so that still needs to be written. For God's sake, why do I never write what I mean to? Oh well, hopefully someone likes this.


End file.
